Wireless communication devices are widely used, and have become an essential aspect of modern life. Wireless communication devices such as pagers, mobile phones, text pagers, PDAs (personal data assistants), and PMPs (portable media players) are used for work, for personal activities, for entertainment, and as a way to keep in contact with family and friends. These wireless devices are increasingly available in cars, boats, appliances, and entertainment equipment. As the number and type of these wireless devices increase, application developers continue to provide exiting and innovative applications to make the wireless devices easier to use, and to enhance their usefulness.
These wireless devices most often access a wireless network according to well defined and well established air interfaces or standards. For example, wireless handsets may operate according to the CDMA, WCDMA, UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM, EDGE, PHS, AMPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, or other standard. Wireless communications systems generally have base stations and antennas which communicate with mobile wireless devices. These wireless devices may accommodate voice communication as well as data communication.
Consumers are continually requesting more advanced features on mobile devices, while at the same time expecting stable or even reduced costs. This demand for features, coupled with cost pressures, puts tremendous pressure on wireless carrier companies and device manufacturers to provide accessibility to advanced features, but without unduly burdening the cost of the wireless devices. To control costs, wireless device manufacturers may attempt to reduce the number of available models, thereby allowing for the cost advantages of large scale manufacturing. However, to appeal to a wide range of consumers, each device model will have a wide range of installed and active features. For example, a typical wireless handset may include a camera, video capture capability, sound file capture, audio (i.e. MP3, AAC, etc.) player capability, and image manipulation functions. Many consumers will never use some of these features, and some users may only use the handset for its voice capability. However, some of these features are provided pursuant to paid licenses. In one example, a license fee may be paid for including an MP3 decoder in a wireless handset. In a typical license arrangement, the fee is paid for every device sold, irrespective of whether or not the decoder is actually ever used. This arrangement seems unfair to the wireless carrier and device manufacturers, and unnecessarily adds cost to wireless devices. However, no viable alternative licensing system has yet to be provided.
In this regard, pay-per-use arrangements have been tried, but consumers typically expect that features, such as MP3 decoders, are provided with fully paid up licenses. Also, it has been suggested that consumers register to obtain rights to use certain features, but carriers and manufacturers are unlikely to implement any license process that adds a burden to the consumer. More particularly, consumers are less likely to purchase, or repurchase from the same carrier or manufacturer, if the consumer perceives that the provided features were difficult to activate. Therefore, there exists a need for a licensing arrangement that is transparent to the consumer, but enables an accurate and fair implementation of a licensing program.